By five-hundreths of a second, Michael Phelps held off Ryan Lochte to win the 200-meter freestyle race at the U.S. Olympics swimming trials before hustling to the warmdown pool to get ready for his 200 butterfly semifinal race.

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

By five-hundreths of a second, Michael Phelps held off Ryan Lochte to win the 200-meter freestyle race at the U.S. Olympics swimming trials before hustling to the warmdown pool to get ready for his 200 butterfly semifinal race.

OMAHA, Neb. – Round 2 goes to Michael Phelps.

Getting back at rival Ryan Lochte, Phelps stretched out to win a thrilling 200-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials Wednesday night, setting up a duel in London that just gets more tantalizing with every race between the world’s two greatest swimmers.

Lochte won the 400 individual medley on the opening night of the games, his third consecutive major victory over the winningest Olympian ever. But Phelps isn’t going down that easily.

He got off to a stronger start that usual, leading at the first turn and holding the advantage through all four laps. Both swimmers got a big boost off the final turn, cutting through the water like missiles, and Lochte went stroke for stroke down the stretch.

But Phelps stretched out his right arm at the wall, touching just ahead of Lochte. The winning time was 1 minute, 45.70 seconds – five-hundredths of a second ahead of Lochte.

“Obviously it’s been a while, so it felt better” to beat Lochte, Phelps said. “But there’s still some things I can improve on.”

Phelps’ victory even was more impressive given his busy night. He didn’t even have time to celebrate, hustling back to the warm-down pool to get ready for the semifinals of the 200 butterfly. He came back 40 minutes later to post the third-fastest qualifying time, moving on to tonights’s final looking to lock up a chance to defend the gold he won at the last two Olympics.

“I feel old,” Phelps, 26, said. “Just getting in the water to race is what motivates me.”

Lochte said he went out too slow in the beginning of the 200 free, a mistake he intends to correct when he gets to London. Phelps’ winning time was nearly 3 seconds slower than his gold-medal effort in Beijing, though that was aided by high-tech bodysuits, which have since been banned by the world governing body.

“We didn’t really try to pick it up until, like, the last 75, so I’ll save that for the Olympics,” Lochte said. “I was just really relaxed for the first 125, and then the last 75, I was like, ‘All right, now we’ve got to put it in gear.’ So I kind of waited a little late, but I’ll take it.”

They’ll have one more showdown in Omaha, facing off in the 200 individual medley. Then it’s off to the meet that really matters, where Phelps is plotting another eight-event program in what he says will be his final Olympics, giving him a chance to match his record performance four years ago.

Lochte is standing in the way this time.

“I love racing against him,” the Floridian said. “It was really fun.”

Speaking of busy, Missy Franklin left no doubt that she is swimming’s next big star with a stunning performance in the 100 backstroke, signaling a changing of the guard in an event Natalie Coughlin captured at the last two Olympics.

Coming back to the pool just 20 minutes after qualifying for the final of the 200 freestyle, the 17-year-old “Missile” chased down Coughlin on the return lap to win with an American record of 58.85.

“I have dreamed of this moment, but I never thought it would come true at 17 years old,” Franklin said. “Dreams do come true.”